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Turn the dry bowl to its final shape The blank will move and distort as it dries, but once it is dry, you can safely complete the turning. The process is much the same as before: Start on the outside and then hollow the inside. Pinch the bowl between the tailstock and chuck. Open the jaws as wide as they go, and spin the blank by hand to check its balance. Clean up the rim. After chucking the tenon, true the rim’s top edge by holding the gouge with the flute rotated 90° counterclockwise. This creates a scraping cut. Turn the tenon round again. As the bowl blank dried, it most likely deformed, and the tenon will not fit the chuck securely. So first turn it round again. the tailstock and work toward the headstock, turning off the lathe frequently to check for defects in the wood that could fly free, or cause the tool to catch. After the blank is round, shape the bowl’s exterior. The reason to do this now is to remove enough material to allow you to form a tenon on the tailstock end of the blank. Eventually this tenon will become the bowl’s base, so keep in mind that a well-made, finished bowl should have a base diameter that’s one third of its overall diameter. At this stage of turning the bowl, I aim for a tenon that’s 40% of the blank’s diameter. I use a 3⁄8-in. spindle gouge to cut tenons. It has a very long grind that makes it easier to cut the dovetail-shaped “cheek” required by my chuck. Take the blank off the screw center and mount the tenon in the chuck, making sure that it sits firmly against the chuck. True the blank’s face, using the bowl gouge with the flute turned to the 9 o’clock position (90° counterclockwise), and scraping back and forth. Next, rotate the gouge’s flute to the 2:30 position and hollow the bowl. work from left to right. Aim for a wall thickness that is 10% of Complete the outside. Before you move on to the inside, turn the exterior of the bowl to its final shape, including any decorative beads and channels. 70 FINE woodworkIN g